New York employers: Gov. Hochul recently released her New York State 2025 Executive Budget Proposal, which contains several important employment-related proposals including:

  • Ending the requirement for employers to offer paid COVID leave to employees who are subject to a mandatory or precautionary order of quarantine or isolation due to COVID-19;
  • Amending the state’s Paid Family Leave (“PFL”) law to provide up to 40 hours per year of paid leave for pregnant employees to attend prenatal medical appointments;
  • Requiring employers to offer paid breaks to lactating employees to express milk at the workplace;
  • Increasing the maximum weekly benefit an employee can obtain through the NYS statutory short-term disability program; and
  • Limiting the damages recoverable by “manual workers” who were not paid their wages on a weekly basis in violation of state law.

We will keep a close watch on these proposals and keep you timely informed if they become law.